Involving parents in school-based programmes to prevent and reduce bullying: what effect does it have?
| Pages | 242-251 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-05-2015-0019 |
| Published date | 21 September 2015 |
| Date | 21 September 2015 |
| Author | Nick Axford,David P. Farrington,Suzy Clarkson,Gretchen J. Bjornstad,Zoe Wrigley,Judy Hutchings |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Children's services |
Involving parents in school-based
programmes to prevent and reduce
bullying: what effect does it have?
Nick Axford, David P. Farrington, Suzy Clarkson, Gretchen J. Bjornstad, Zoe Wrigley and
Judy Hutchings
Nick Axford is basedat The Social
Research Unit, Dartington, UK.
Professor David P. Farrington is
based at Institute of Criminology,
University of Cambridge,
Cambridge, UK.
Suzy Clarkson is based at Centre
of Evidence Based Early
Interventions, Bangor University,
Bangor, UK.
Dr Gretchen J. Bjornstad and Zoe
Wrigley, both based at The Social
Research Unit, Dartington, UK.
Professor Judy Hutchings is
based at School of Psychology,
Bangor University, Bangor, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to describe how and why school-based programmes to prevent
or reduce bullying involve parents, and what impact involving parents has on bullying.
Design/methodology/approach –A review of relevant literature, in particular systematic reviews and
meta-analyses.
Findings –The logic of involving parents in school-based bullying prevention programmes is that this
increases the likelihood of parents first, telling schools that their child is being bullied, which in turnenables the
school to act appropriately, and second, being able to address bullying-related issues effectively at home.
Parent involvement is associated with a reduction in bullying but further research is needed to determine if it is
a causal factor. Programmes tend not to include a parenting education and support element, despite
negative parenting behaviour being associated with children being a victim or a bully/victim.
Practical implications –There is good reason to involve parents in school-based bullying prevention.
Given the parenting risk factors for bullying perpetration and victimisation, bullying prevention programmes
could also usefully offer parenting education and support.
Originality/value –The paper focuses exclusively on the role of parents in school-based bullying prevention
programmes. It articulates the logic of involving parents and summarises the impact of parent involvement.
Keywords Children, Prevention, School, Parents, Bullying, KiVa
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The value of involving parents in their children’s education is widely recognised. There is robust
evidence that parental involvement has a modest and positive impact on pupil attainment
(Castro et al., 2015), although there is no high-quality evidence that parental involvement
interventions result in improved educational outcomes (Gorard and See, 2013). The value of
involving families in school-based activities to promote healthy behaviours in children is also
increasingly acknowledged, for example in relation to physical activity, drug and alcohol use,
sexual health, and, critically for this paper, bullying (Langford et al., 2014).
Schools are viewed as an important site for activity to promote positive health behaviours
because children spend a large proportion of their time in school and their health and their
capacity to learn are strongly linked. There is little evidence that traditional curriculum-based
health education activities lead to sustained long-term behavioural change, so a more holistic
approach combines: first, a formal curriculum designed to give pupils the knowledge, attitudes
Received 7 April 2015
Revised 22 May 2015
Accepted 16 June 2015
PAGE242
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JOURNAL OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES
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VOL. 10 NO. 3 2015, pp. 242-251, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-6660 DOI 10.1108/JCS-05-2015-0019
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